Lake Happenings

The hawks are calling here on the lake, their cries echoing from the woods below the house.  They are young red-tailed hawks not long out of the nest, hoping their mother will provide a meal for them.  Hawks nest here every year, coming in late January, circling over the house and the lake while their glad calls, and later mating calls, salute the winter sky.  Through the spring, we see the female hawk--or maybe it's both male and female--carrying snakes, mice and fish to the nest hid among the tallest trees.  Now the young are on the wing, and their prey is sometimes other birds, other nestlings.  I hate that part, though I appreciate the elimination of the vermin species.  It's nature's way so must be accepted.  In the meantime, there's something timeless about their cries, something wild and untamed that makes me glad they always return to us.